Loader mechanism



Jan. 26, 1965 A. J. STANTON ETAL 3,166,982

LOADER MECHANISM Filed June 3, 1957 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 FORWARD L EFT LOADER FIG. I

INVENTORS ARTHUR J. STANTON DAVID F. ANDERSON RICHARD E.TAYLOR BY Q/BWW ATTORNEYS Jan. 26, 1965 Filed June 3, 1957 FIG. 2

A. J. STANTON ETAL LOADER MECHANISM '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 ARTHUR J. STANTON DAVID E ANDERSON RICHARD E. TAYLOR BY MM ATTORNEYS 1965 A. J. STANTON ETAL 3,165,982

LOADER MECHANISM Filed June 3, 1957 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 FORWARD Q IIIHIHHHIIHHHHIIIHHIHHHI|IIll]HHIll[llllllllllll|IlllllllllllllllllIIHIIIIIIIHIIIIHIHI lllllll INVENTORIS' ARTHUR J. STANTON .DAVID F. ANDERSON RICHARD E. TAYLOR ATTORNEYS FIG.3

Jan. 26, 1965 Filed June 5, 1957 FIG. 4

A. J. STANTON ETAL 3,166,982

llllllllllllllllllllllll INVENTORS ARTHUR J. STAN TON DAVID E ANDERSON RICHARD E. TAYLOR 1965 A. ,LISTANTON ETAL 3,165,982

LOADER MECHANISM Filed June 3, 195'? '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS ARTHUR J. STANTON DAVID FZANDERSON RICHARD E. TAYLOR BY C? ATTORNEYS FIG.5

1965 A. J. STANTON ETAL LOADER MECHANISM '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed June 5, 1957 INVENTORS' X ARTHUR J. STANTON DAVID F. ANDERSON RICHARD E. TAYLOR ATTORNEYS mTm I] II Il-ll I'll I'll IIIII'IL Ill II MON NNN

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1965 A. J. STANTON ETAL 3,166,982

LOADER MECHANISM 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed June 5, 1957 FIG. 9

ATTORNEYS United States Patent '0 3,166,982 LOADER MEHANISM Arthur Ii. Stanton, Bethesda, Md, David F. Anderson, McLean, Va., and Richard E. Taylor, Hyattsville, Md, assignors to the United tates of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed June 3, 19557, Ser. No. 663,324

11 Claims. (Ci. 89-33) (Granted under Title 35, LES. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the pay ment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This application discloses and claims a portion of the system disclosed and claimed in copending application Serial No. 663,319, filed June 3, 1957, for Rapid Fire Gun System.

The present invention relates to a loading mechanism for a projectile launching system which includes a low velocity, rapid fire gun and mount therefor. More particularly, this invention is directed to a loading mechanism for a weapon suitable for a saturation zone type of protective or assault fire and which is especially Well adapted for shipboard antiaircraft use.

Heretofore, antiaircraft guns of both large and small calibers have been devised for employment against high and low altitude attacking planes. Although the large caliber guns are effective at high altitudes when properly used, these guns are generally ineffective at low altitudes and short ranges because, among other reasons, of their slow rate of fire and the more effective evasive action taken by aircraft at low altitudes. Consequently, guns generally in use against low flying aircraft have been of a small caliber and in the machine gun class in order to obtain a rapid rate of fire and cope with the evasive action of aircraft attempting to avoid the zone of fire. However, the use of armor around the vital parts of aircraft has increased considerably and it has been found that the smaller caliber guns could make a number of hits Without reaching a vital part, and, therefore, the attaching aircraft would, in many cases, continue the attack.

With conventional guns, as the caliber increases, the weight of the many gun components as well as the gun itself increases greatly. Heavier structural members are needed to load and transfer ammunition. The recoil forces generated require heavier mounting and driving structures. Consequently, aboardship the number of guns that can be installed is limited by the weight factor alone. Furthermore, the handling of conventional large caliber case ammunition presents problems because of its sizeand Weight, such ammunition not being adapted to belt or clip type feeding as used in the machine gun class weapons.

The use of large guns and mounts generally prohibits the stowage of amn1un'.ion or maintenance of magazines on the same level on which the gun is mounted because of space requirements. Thus, the ammunition stowage is at a lower level, often employing three or more decks of the ship to contain all the necessary equipment. Location below decks complicates the problem of loading and feeding ammunition to large caliber guns and necessitates the installation of elaborate ammunition hoists with associated large gains in overall weight and complexity of the ammunition handling equipment.

3,l66,982 Patented Jan. 26, 1965 The present invention overcomes many of the disadvantages of the prior art loading mechanisms in that it provides an automat'c, rapid loading, lightweight device for loading symmetrically cased, rocket-assisted projectiles of relatively large caliber into a magazine. The entire loading mechanism is relatively small and compact as compared with those of the prior art for similar, caliber weapons.

The device of the present invention loads a rocketpropelled projectile enclosed in a symmetrical container or case which functions both as a storage case and as an expendable gun chamber when the projectile is fired. The Weight saved by decreasing the size of the loading mechanism because of the elimination of the conventional powder case as a longitudinal extension of the projectile permits extra ammunition to be carried on the mount.

The loading mechanism of the present invention providcs novel means for loading a magazine whereby m' chine gun rates of fire are obtained.

it is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a projectile loading mechanism capable of loading an associated magazne at a high cyclic rate with large caliber rocket-assisted projectiles.

Another object resides in the provision of a lightweight device for loading relatively large caliber projectiles into an associated magazine.

An additional object is to provide a device for loading case-enclosed, rocket-assisted projectiles of the type which, when fired, are propelled from the projectile case through a gun barrel by case propellant and thereafter accelerated to a high velocity by the rocket propellant.

A further object is to provide a loader for an associated magazine which sequentially feeds rounds to the magazine and eliminates blank round spaces during the loading of the latter.

Yet another object is to provide a loader including means located within the loader for preventing entrance of rounds thcreinto when an associated magazine is fully loaded.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a loading mechanism which will guide ammunition of the case-enclosed, rocket-propelled type into an associated magazine.

Another object is to provide a loading mechanism which includes meansfor permitting or preventing as the situation demands, the loading of ammunition in accordance With predetermined conditions existing in an associ ated magazine.

Yet another object resides in the provision of a loading mechanism which includes means for interlocking the startins or stopping of the power drive of an associated magazine, as conditions may require, during loading operations.

Another object is to provide in a rocket launching system including a gun mechanism of relatively large caliher, a loading mechanism that is readily removable and replaceable with respect to the remainder of the system.

Gther objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed descriptions when considered with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view with portions broken away for a twin gun mount and system embodying the leader of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the weapon systern of FIG. 1 taken along a line substantially corresponding to the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the system of FIG. 1 taken along a line substantially corresponding to line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front vertical elevational view of the system of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 with a portion of the shield broken away to better illustrate the relative location of the loader of the present invention relative to the remainder of the system;

FIG. 5 is a rear vertical elevational view of the system with portions of the shield and stand removed;

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of an upper portion of the magazine loader and the round receiving tray associated therewith;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view through the magazine loader of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the loader as viewed from a line substantially corresponding to line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged longitudinal section-a1 view of the loader tray of FIGS. 6 through 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the loader tray with a portion of the frame broken away;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of the switch actuating linkage for the switches S-6 and 8-7 of FIGS. 7 and 8 and controlling the operation of the power drive for an associated magazine; and

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the right hand end of the loader of FIG. 8 showing a cam for controlling switch S-13 employed when cycling rounds in reverse order during unloading or reloading of an associated magazine.

General mount description To facilitate an understanding of the present invention and the manner in which it may be employed with other components of a weapon system, the entire system will be described briefly before proceeding to the detailed description of the loader mechanism of the instant invention. Referring first to FIGS. 1 through 5 which are generally arrangement views of the entire system in which the present invention may be employed, it will be observed that a twin weapon mount, generally designated by numeral 100, is shown mounted on a fixed stand 101 such as those which are presently in use on naval vessels. The mount comprises a platform carriage 102 which supports ther'eabove the gun and round handling mechanisms of the system and carries therebeneath mount drive and power components. The carriage 102 is rotatably supported for movement in train on roller bearings (not shown) which engage a mating roller path (not shown) formed in a fixed training circle gear 103. A carriage mounted drive pinion 104 is drivingly meshed with the training circle 103 for driving the mount in train. Additional power and associated equipment such as motors, firing cutouts, brakes, clutches and bulfers are also carried beneath the carriage.

Located centrally atop the carriage is a pair of trunnion bearings 105 which support therebetween, an elevatable cradle 106. An elevating are 130 is secured to the left hand side of cradle 106, as viewed in FIG. 5, and is driven by a convention-a1 elevating pinion (not shown) to move the entire cradle in elevation. An elevation stop buffer 131 and a depression stop buffer 132 are provided, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The central portion of the cradle supports a pair of right and left hand gun mechanisms 107 and 108, each gun mechanism having a rifled barrel 109 and 110, both respectively, protruding from the front portion of the cradle. A twin case ejection system 111 is also carried by the cradle and is located between the gun mechanisms. Secured to opposite sides of the cradle and elevatable therewith, are right and left hand round transfer mechanisms 112 board ends of each round transfer mechanism and is in contact with elevation response gearing 117 connected to suitable firing cutouts during adjustment of gun elevation. In addition, the elevation response gearing repositions certain elements in the transfer mechanism drive gearing to maintain alignment of certain portions of the round-feeding elements regardless of angle of gun elevation. This is accomplished by means of suitable difierenti-al gearing, not shown. Right and left hand round storage magazines 118 and 119, respectively, are mounted outboard of the'cradle on the carriage and overlie the major portion of thetop surfaces of each round transfer mechanism. Right and left magazine loaders 120 and 121, respectively, comprising the present invention, are mounted on the forward and lower front end of each magazine through which rounds may be fed to the magazine to load endless round carrying chains moving through each magazine. Access doors 122 permit access to the loader during periods of magazine loading and unloading.

A shield 123 secured to the carriage, completely encloses the mount units and forms a weather seal for the mount units and mount operator. The top central portion of the shield supports a control compartment 124 which includes a transparent observation dome 125 extending above the shield. A gun port shield 126 mates with a circular path 127 formed in the shield and may have inflatable waterproof sealing elements (not shown) for sealing the movable elements when in stowed condition.

A fixed case ejection chute 128, formed in the central floor portion of the carriage, is curved to conform with the sweeps of a pair of case deflector assemblies 129 carried by the aforc-mentioned case ejection system 111 and delivers empty cases out of the front end of the mount. Suitable coolant lines 133 are employed to carry water to and from the gun cooling system.

Magazine loader As hereinbefore noted, the round loader of the present invention mounted at the forward and lower end of each magazine. Briefly, its operation is as follows: rounds are manually aligned on a horizontal, round receiving tray and are rolled over spring biased pawls into the upper end of a substantially vertical loading chute through which the rounds drop to the lower end of the chute and are there picked up by suitable round feeding means such, for example, as a pair of star wheels and cooperating round engaging lugs carried by traveling chains in an associated magazine.

Referring to FIGS. 7 through 12, the round loader 120 is there illustrated as comprising a vertical chute 200 having an inlet or round entry station at its'upper end and delivering from its lower end or round exit station to a magazine round entry station of a suitable magazine, which forms no part of the present invention. The chute includes relatively wide front and rear walls 201 and 202, respectively, and narrower side walls 203. The rear wall is curved at its upper end in a forward direction as at 204 to form a round receiving opening.

A horizontal tray 205 is in substantially horizontal alignment with the lower edge of the round receiving opening of the chute and thus forms an open extension of the chute front wall 201. In the embodiment illustrated, the tray is rectangular in shape and includes a pair of L-shaped guide members 206. The circular end flanges of each round are guided between the outer side edges of tray 205 and the upwardly extending portion 207 of the guide members, the intermediate portion of the round rolling upon tray 205.

The tray 205 is cut away or otherwise formed with openings 208 intermediate its sides at a series of locations along the length of the tray and in which are mounted elongated, spring-biased, round restraining pawls 2tl9. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the pawls are of a length to engage only the reduced diameter portion 211 of the round R, shown in phantom in FIG. 9, the circular end or base flanges 213 of the round extending below the sides of the tray to be guided as mentioned hereinbefore. As illustrated, pawls 299 may be formed of flat stock, one edge portion being bent as at 214 to form bearings surrounding a fixed cross shaft 215. A coiled tension spring 216 on the cross shaft urges the pawl individual thereto upwardly while an edge of each cutout portion 217 of the tray functions as a stop to prevent upward motion of its respective pawl beyond a predetermined height and angle. The free edge of each pawl is turned and bent upon itself as at 218 to reinforce the round engaging edge. These pawls permit round movement in the direction of chute 2% but prevent the rounds from moving away from the chute. The forward end of the tray is turned upwardly as at 219 so as to restrain the last round placed on the tray.

The tray is pivotably supported by a hinge 221. Spaced legs 222 having appropriately slotted brace members 223 are provided for positioning and maintaining the tray in the loading position. Thus the tray may be lowered When not in use.

Just inside the round entry end of the chute is an ammunition stop or loader gate comprising a pair of round engaging fingers 224 secured to a cross shaft 225. These fingers may be actuated and raised to a position out of the path of oncoming rounds in response to energization of solenoid L-5 (FIGS. 7 and 8) electrically connected to any suitable means in the associated magazine such,

r for example, as switch means which are closed in response to a predetermined accumulation of rounds in the magazine. Fingers 224 are connected to solenoid L-S via any suitable linkage such, for example, as that shown at 227. These fingers function to control entry of rounds into the loader chute. Round engaging guides 22% extending the length of the chute are provided on the rear and front walls and are spaced from the side walls 203 so that the round flanges 213 will be received between the guides and the side walls to thereby guide each round during its movement through the chute. Additional relatively short guides 229 are placed adjacent the round engaging fingers 224 to engage the central portion of the round and assist in the initial alignment of the round as it enters the chute at which time its direction of travel changes from the horizontal to the vertical.

Mounted centrally and adjacent the bottom of the chute in a cutout portion of the rear wall 262 is a pair of switch actuators, generally designated by numeral 231 and best shown in FIG. 11, each including a vertically depending actuator bar 232. Each bar is pivotally supported by link 233 at its upper end and by a link 234 at its lower end, each link in turn being pivotally secured to a central, fixed U-shaped bracket 235 rigidly secured to a cross member 236 on the rear wall of the chute. The bracket 235 supports two spring biased bell cranks 237 pivoted ona common shaft 238, one leg of each bell crank contacting the upper and inner surface of its respective actuator bar and the other leg contacting its adjacent switch S-6 or 8-7. The spring biasing of the bell cranks urges the actuator bars into the path of the round. Thus, as the first round actuates the switches 8-6 and S7, circuitry, not shown, will be activated to accomplish any results desired, depending upon the type system .with'which the loader is employed. At this time, the'drive for the associated magazine 113 may be set in operation to start the feed of rounds from the loader into the magazine in the manner shown in FIG. 7. Switches S6 and 8-7 are so interlocked electrically as to stop the magazine drive should a lapse occur in the successive filling of rounds in the chute 269. This eliminates the possibility of any blank round position or bubble in the magazine.

The lower forward section of the front wall 201 is hinged at 239 forming a door 241 for stripping rounds from the magazine in the event firing has terminated with a partial load in the magazine.

In this event, spring-biased door locks 242 are released, the magazine drive is reversed and rounds will be passed through the opened door 241 and over an inclined ramp 243 which is aligned with the door and end walls of the loader.

A switch Sl3, FIG. 12, is mounted on the loader and is opened and closed in response to the rotation of a muitilobed cam in the magazine, this cam forming no part of the present invention. This switch is connected in the magazine drive circuit in a manner to cause the magazine drive to reverse to stop with the magazine mechanism aligned in a position to again receive rounds from the loader. Thus, the possibility of a round becoming jammed between the exit end of the loader and the entry end of the magazine is eliminated.

Obviously many modification and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope or" the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A gravity feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, gate means at said entry station for preventing rounds from entering said chute when the magazine has been filled, and control means for actuating round moving means in the magazine when rounds in the chute are contiguous with one an other and to stop the operation of the round moving means when rounds in the chute become spaced from one another.

2. A loading mechanism in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising a round aligning and supporting means pivotally secured to the housing for effecting proper positioning of rounds prior to and during entry into the entry end of the loader.

3. A gravity feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine having sensing means therein and comprising a vertically disposed housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, means connected with said walls for maintaining successive rounds passing through the mechanism in identical attitudes, and gate means electrically connected to the magazine sensing means and for permitting entry of rounds into the mechanism when loading in the magazine is at a predetermined condition and for preventing entry of objects when the predetermined condition in the associated device is not attained.

4. A loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, gate means at said entry station for preventing rounds from entering said chute when the magazine has been'filled, a plurality of actuators engageable with medial portions of the rounds passing through the chute and switch means connected to said actuators for interrupting the operation of the round moving means in the magazine in response to a break in the continuity of engagement of the rounds with the actuators.

5. A gravity-feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, a door mounted at the lower end portion of said chute, said door being hingedly connected to the chute at the top of the door so that rounds moving in a reverse direction through the mechanism from the exit station thereof will open the door to permit the rounds to escape from the chute through the doorway, gate means at said entry station for preventing rounds from entering said chute when the magazine has been filled, and control means for actuating round moving means in the magazine when rounds in the chute are contiguous with one another and to stop the operation of the round moving means when rounds in the chute become spaced from one another.

6. A gravity-feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, a pair of depending round engaging fingers swingably mounted about a horizontal axis for movement into and out of the path of travel of the rounds moving into the entry station of the loading mechanism, means for moving said round engaging fingers into the path of travel of the rounds moving into the entry station when the magazine has been filled and for moving said fingers out of the path of travel when the magazine has not been filled, and control means for actuating round moving means in the magazine when rounds in the chute are contiguous with one another and to stop the operation of the round moving means when rounds in the chute become spaced from one another.

7. A gravity-feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, gate means at said entry station for preventing rounds from entering said chute when the magazine has been filled, round aligning and supporting means pivotally secured to the housing for effecting the proper positioning of rounds prior to and during entry into the entry station of the loader, said aligning and supporting means including a substantially horizontal tray member, and a plurality of longitudinally spaced, resiliently biased round restraining pawls mounted on said tray, and control means for actuating round moving means in the magazine when rounds in the chute are contiguous with one another and to stop the operation of the round moving means when rounds in the chute become spaced from one another.

8. A gravity-feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, gate means at said entry station for preventing rounds from entering said chute when the magazine has been filled, round aligning and supporting means pivotally secured to the housing for effecting the proper positioning of rounds prior to and during entry into the entry station of the loader, said aligning and supporting means including a substantially horizontal tray member, a plurality of longitudinally spaced, resiliently biased, round restraining pawls mounted on said tray, upwardly extending guide members secured to the tray edge portions, each of said guide members being laterally spaced from its respective tray edge thereby defining a space for slidably receiving one end of each round to be guided, and control means for actuatting round moving means in the magazine when rounds in the chute are contiguous with one another and to stop the operation of the round moving means when rounds in the chute become spaced from one another.

9. A gravity-feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, gate means at said entry station for preventing rounds from entering said chute when the magazine has been filled, round aligning and supporting means pivotally secured to the housing for effecting the proper positioning of rounds prior to and during entry into the entry station of the loader, said aligning and supporting means including a substantially .horizotal tray member, a plurality of longitudinally spaced, resiliently biased, round restraining pawls mounted on said tray, said round restraining pawls being spring biased upwardly about a horizontal axis and extending transversely across the tray and longitudinally spaced along the tray with respect to (the remaining round restraining pawls.

10. A gravity-feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding Walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, gate means at said entry station for preventing rounds from entering said chute when the magazine has been filled, round aligning and supporting means pivotally secured to the housing for effecting the proper positioning of rounds prior to and during entry into the entry station of the loader, said aligning and supporting means including a substantially horizontal tray member, a plurality of longitudinally spaced, resiliently biased, round restraining pawls mounted on said tray, said tray including an upper surface defining openings through which said restraining pawls extend, means beneath said upper surface for pivotally mounting said pawls for swinging movement about a horizontal axis, and control means for actuating round moving means in the magazine when rounds in the chute are contiguous with one another and to stop the operation of the round moving means when rounds in the chute become spaced from one another.

11. A gravity-feed loading mechanism for loading rounds into an ammunition magazine and comprising a housing having a plurality of round guiding walls, said walls defining a vertical chute having horizontally disposed round entry and exit stations, gate means at said entry station for preventing rounds from entering said chute when the magazine has been filled, round aligning and supporting means pivotally secured to the housing for effecting the proper positioning of rounds prior to and during entry into the entry station of the loader, said aligning and supporting means including a substantially horizontal tray member, a plurality of longitudinally spaced, resiliently biased round restraining pawls mounted on said tray, said tray including an upper surface defining openings through which said restraining pawls extend, means beneath said upper surface for pivotally mounting said pawls for swinging movement about a horizontal axis, means for limiting the swinging movement of said pawls in a direction away from the loading chute, and control means for actuating round moving means in the magazine when rounds in the chute are contiguous with one another and to stop the operation of the round moving means when rounds in the chute become spaced from one another.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,402,487 1/22 Fooks 198-103 2,355,100 8/44 Nordquist 198-l03 2,599,220 6/52 Bergmann 198232 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL BOYD, ARTHUR M. HORTON, Examiners. 

1. A GRAVITY FEED LOADING MECHANISM FOR LOADING ROUNDS INTO AN AMMUNITION MAGAZINE AND COMPRISING A HOUSING HAVING A PLURALITY OF ROUND GUIDING WALLS, SAID WALLS DEFINING A VERTICAL CHUTE HAVING HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED ROUND ENTRY AND EXIT STATIONS, GATE MEANS AT SAID ENTRY STATION FOR PREVENTING ROUNDS FROM ENTERING SAID CHUTE WHEN THE MAGAZINE HAS BEEN FILLED AND CONTROL MEANS FOR ACTUATING ROUND MOVING MEANS IN THE MAGAZINE WHEN ROUNDS IN THE CHUTE ARE CONTIGUOUS WITH ONE AN- 